Hoboken Then and Now: 9th and Hudson

9th & Hudson in Hoboken – “Then and Now”

Interesting development over at the northeast corner of 9th and Hudson Streets. This area is widely known as one of the most affluent and historically preserved areas in town. With spectacular brownstones, and better elevation thanks to the cliff that is home to Stevens Institute, it’s definitely the “Beverly Hills” of Hoboken – and never floods.

But this one corner had an odd anomaly, as you can see in this photo below. This “castle” like corner property had what appeared to be an “attachment” that was clearly out of tune with the rest of the neighborhood. Not sure if this was an extension of the corner property or just a plain “fugly” self contained unit.

And now – it appears to be getting a complete re-built, and from the shape of the footprint, will be a “carbon copy” of the corner property it abuts. Nice neighborhood improvement!

I believe one Hoboken411 commenter had expressed “outrage” about this current construction project, but I’m sure if he sees these before and after photos, he’d change his perspective.

This feature exists for several reasons. One, to document the ongoing changes in Hoboken for historical purposes. And to also show photos from “way back” and compare how things used to be “back in the day.”

My understanding that this home is now owned by a member of the Caulfied family , long time Hoboken residents and developers. In fact decades ago it was the residence of the grandfather of the current owner. He was the city engineer under the McFeely administration. His son, James Caulfield was city engineer in later administrations. Many decades ago the house was sold to Colonel DeGennaro who lived in it for quite a few years. DeGennaro sold it to Stevens who used it as a Dean’s residence. Stevens then sold it to a group of developers who wanted to build multiunit buildings along the entire north side of Ninth Street between Hudson and Castle Point Terrace. This was thwarted by local residents when the surrounding area was granted historical status by the City. The residence was then bought by the Caulfields.

If anyone has any corrections to this, please post as my memory is not as good as it used to be.

Ps. If a bank owns this property , which I doubt, then the bank is owned by the Caulfields.[quote comment=”221476″]Don’t assume. Probably bank owned and will be for a long time.[/quote]

A 30 second search on the property assessment segment of APP’s DataUniverse will reveal the owner of record.

Spoiler: it ain’t a bank.

Observer99 is a credible source. Even the very partial property sale info on the same DataUniverse appears to generally support O99’s account.
[quote comment=”221520″]A little history.My understanding that this home is now owned by a member of the Caulfied family , long time Hoboken residents and developers. In fact decades ago it was the residence of the grandfather of the current owner. He was the city engineer under the McFeely administration. His son, James Caulfield was city engineer in later administrations. Many decades ago the house was sold to Colonel DeGennaro who lived in it for quite a few years. DeGennaro sold it to Stevens who used it as a Dean’s residence. Stevens then sold it to a group of developers who wanted to build multiunit buildings along the entire north side of Ninth Street between Hudson and Castle Point Terrace. This was thwarted by local residents when the surrounding area was granted historical status by the City. The residence was then bought by the Caulfields.If anyone has any corrections to this, please post as my memory is not as good as it used to be.Ps. If a bank owns this property , which I doubt, then the bank is owned by the Caulfields.[/quote]

Discussion with other old timers pointed out a mistake I made in my original post. The DeGennaros lived in the adjacent house. They also pointed out that Grandfather Caulfield built the extension in the late thirties or early forties. I do not know if Caulfield sold the house to Stevens or to someone else who later sold it to Stevens.[quote comment=”221523″]Ding ding ding ding.A 30 second search on the property assessment segment of APP’s DataUniverse will reveal the owner of record.Spoiler: it ain’t a bank.Observer99 is a credible source. Even the very partial property sale info on the same DataUniverse appears to generally support O99′s account.[/quote]